Locomotive fire door



1,640,86 Aug' 30 1927 P. J. WEIRICH 6 LOCOMOTIVE FIRE DOOR Filed May 12 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet l n ven Zor- Y 1,640,866 Aug. 30, 1927. p, J. wx-:lRlcH v LOCOMOTIVE FIRE DOOR Aug. 30, 1927. 1,640,866

P. J. wElRlcH LOCQMOTIVE FIRE DOOR Filed May 12, 1921 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 was Patented Aug. 30, 1927. f UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.

i PETER J'. WEIRICH, OF ADAMS, WISCONSIN.

LOCOMOTIVE FIRE DOOR.

Application led May 12,

This invention relates to improvements in' apparatus for opening and closing fire doors i able control element which may be located in any convenient place.

A further object of the invention is to provide pneumatically operated means for opening and closing the fire door. V

The invention contemplates the provision of a cylinder having a reciprocating piston Vwhich is operatively connected to the fire door in combination with means permitting the admission and discharge of air tor and from the cylinder; anda further object of the invention is to provide means whereby the air on the working side of the piston may be rapidly discharged until the piston reaches nearly the end of its return stroke and then slowly discharged during the remainder of the stroke whereby theA fire door is quickly moved from open to nearly its closed position and then slowly moved into its closed position. y

A further object of the invention is to provide for the admission of air on the upper side of the piston to aid in movement of the piston on its return stroke.

A. further ob)` ect of the invention is to provide a tire door consisting of two relatively movable sections, which are preferably balanced with respect to each other.

A. further object of the invention is to proy vide means wherey the door sections may be partially separated and closed so that the condition of the tire may be observed whenever desired. y Y

A further object of the invention is toyprovide means for manually openingy and closing the lire door in case theV air supply should fail or the pneumaticv operating mechanism should for any reason fail to function.

The invention consists in the novel con-y structions, arrangements and devices tov be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects and such other objects as will appear from the following description of certain preferred embodiments illustrated in the accompanying draw-v ing, wherein- .y

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of apparatus embodying the principles ,of the inveny tion 1192i. serial No. 468.8%

Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the valve controlling the admission and discharge of air to and from the cylinder; 1 f

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on ,the line 3.-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a sectionalv view of the cylinder and certain valves associated therewith; I Fig. 5 is a sectional view takenon the line 5-5 of Fig. 1 ;y

Fig. 6 is-an `enlarged sectional viewtaken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 1;

F ig. 7 isa sectional .view of the main valve controlling the supply of air; v' Fig. S is a detail view of the piston and its connecting link when .the latter is disconnected from the fire door;A f

v Fig. 9 is 4a side elevational view on-an enlarged 'scale of the'pedal operatedl mecha- Vvnism for manipulating the control valve;

' Fig. 10 is a detail view showing the pedal directly connected to the fire door; i

Fig. 11 is a front elevational View;A

Fig. 12'is a side elevational view ofa modified structure in which one pedal is employed for opening the fire door and another pedal is employed for` closing the same; and

Figure 13 is a fragmentary vertical sec-A tional view taken approximately on the plane indicated bythe line 13-13 of Figure 1, looking toward the right.

Like character of reference designate like vparts in the several views.

as a whole by the reference numeral 1S, and preferably consisting of sections 18a and 1S'nv which are pivotallymounted on the plate 15 by bolts 195t and 19", respectively. The lire door sections are balanced with respect to each other and are adapted to co-operate withguide'plates 20a and 20, respectively,

secured lto the plate 15, the coengagingsur faces of which are such as to force the sections tightly against the plate l5 when they are in their closed position. f

The fire door sections are opened 'and closed simultaneously and the mechanism for 'opening and closing them includes a bell crank 21 pivoted at 22 to the plate 15 which is operatively connected with the door section 18b by a pair of links 23, see Fig'. 3,

and' with they door section 18a by aQpair of 'ino -held against its seat -by Ya spring48. valve 47 is provided with a stern 49 formed the atmosphere through aport 51.

links 24,*see Fig. 6. Se'cu'redfto 'a pair of laterally extending lugs formed on the plate 15 is a cylinderg26 7provided with a reciprocating piston 27, the 'latter being connected by a link 28 to one arm of the bell crank 21 by a connecting pin 29, see Figs 4 and 6. The pin 29 isprovided with a circumi'erentially extending groove 30 which 'is adapted 'to -receive a U-shaped latch `member 31 secured to one armof `the link 28. By this arrangement when the latch member 31 is removed from` the' groove 30, the pin 29 may readily 1kbe withdrawn andthe link l28 Vdisconnected from the bell crank. f

'The piston in the l'cylinder is preferably moved by compressed air suppliedfby a ypipe '32 leading from any suitable source of supply, for example, liromthe air reservoir of l the =air vbrake system '(not shown), admission of air being controlledrby `a three-positioned `main valve. '33, see VFi-g.7. Apipe 34 leads from the port 35 'offs-he valve S'Binto la port 36 formed in the cylinder -26 on the rupper "side of'the piston. A pipe 87 leads -irom a port 88 yo1 the valve 33 into a port'39 ofa control element 40, see Fig. 2. The control element 40 isprovided -with an outlet port 41 which :is adapted to receive one end of a pipe 42 fthe other end lo-which is iiormed so las to `provide branch ,pipes 43 and 44 4which lead into sui-table jports 45 vand 46, respectively, formed `in 'the lower vportion of the -cylinder 26, Asee Fig.'4 Communication between the ports'39 and 41 ofthe control element 40 is 4normally shut oif by a valve 47 The with a `circumferential groove 50 so ithat when the valve is in the position shown in A'Fig2, air from the pipe 42 may discharge into thecontrolling element 40 and ,pass to In the branch pipe 431isprovided a check valve 52 which fpermits inflow of air lto the cylinderv and in fthe branch pipe 44 is provided a check valve 5,3 which :permitsoutfiow of air kirom the cylinder. A restricted air outlet port y54 controlled by a needle valve 55 is provided in the check valve 52. y v

rlhe control element 40 is ,preferably operlated by means of a 'foot pedal '56, see fpar- Yticularly Fig. ylhejcasing ofthe control element is.provided with apaiirol2 forwardly projectinglugs 57 between which is;pivotally mounted a lever 58,theparts-being.arranged so that the valve stem 49 bears against the upper side adjacent the Yrear end of said lever. The 'forward end ofsaid lever is rigidly connected by an extensiblelink 59 with the pedal 56, the lower end of the link 59 being slotted=at 60 to receivefthe pedal .bar

Aand is provided Vwith a locking ,ipin 61 ada ted to be inserted in lany of the notches 62 ormed in the upper side of the pedal bar thus providing for horizontal adjustment of the link 59 with respect to the pedal.

The stem of the valve 33 is normally in the position shown-in Fig. 7 in which case air is admitted to the cylinder 26 above the vpiston27 and also the pipe 37. When the pedal 56 is depressed, the valve 47 is raised from its seat which permits air to pass from the pipe 37 into the controleleinent 40 Aand thence intothe pipe 42. From the pipe 42 the air passes through branch vpipe 43 into the bottom ,portion of the cylinder 26. The .pressure of the air below the piston is substantially equal to that of the air above the piston, but because of the lgreater areaoi the piston engaged by the air on the flower side thereof, as against the area offthe piston engaged by the air on the upper side thereof,

the piston is l'rapidly forced upwardly y against the pressure on thev upper side. Movement of the rpiston upwardly results in the bell Acrank being partially rotated in a clockwise direction, consequently the fire door sectionsV are moved into the position showin in dotted lines-in Fig. 1. Vihen pressure on the pedal 56 is removed the weight of the link 59 and the action of the spring 48 permits thevalve 47 to seat very quickly thus cutting oli? communication between jthe ports V39 and 41 of the control 'element r40. i

The air in the cylinder'below the piston is permitted to discharge rapidly through the branch pipe'44, the pipe 42, 'into Athe vcontrol Velement 40 and vout'through'the port 51 until the piston reaches nearly the end of' its return stroke and cuts off port 46. "The remainder of air in the cylinder' below the vpiston can ithen only discharge slowly through the restricted port 54 in the check 'fire means "is .provided `AJfor 'slightly rocking lthe bell crank by hand. For this purpose a 'lever A65 lis slidably and rockingly mounted on the bolt 22, see Figs. 1,16, and 13,' the lower end of the lever being adapted to enter into engagement with a vstop 64 Vi'o'rmed on the plate20b and theupperend of the lever, when pushed -inwardly,being adapted to lie between a lug 65 formed on theb'ellcr'ank,

vand one 'end of'the'link23. 1:lt'will'thus be seen thatwhen the lever 63 lis moved in a clockwise direction, the fire door sections Vare opened and 'when moved 'in lthe opposite direction they are'closed.

When the air supply fails, or the pneumatlli) ically operating mechanism fails to function for any reason, means is provided for manually opening and closing the tire door sections. In that event the pin 29 connecting the piston link 28 with the bell crank is withdrawn, the piston link being turned, to one side out of the way, substantially at right angles, as shown in Fig. 8, it being held in that posit-ion by a lug 28a formed thereon. The upper end of the pedal link 59 is connected by meansof a suitable pin 66 with the ire door section 18a, the pin 66 being adapted to enter a suitable recess 67 formed in said pedal link 59. It will be obvious that when the pedal 56 is depressed both door sections will be swung into open position. Y An auxiliary pedal 68 pivoted on a supporting bracket 69 is operatively connected with the lower end of the pedal link 59, see Figs. l1 and 12. VJ hen the pedal 56 is depressed and the door sections are opened the pedal 68 is raised. Depressng the pedalv 68 reverses the position ot the parts, that is Y to say, raises the pedal link 59 and causes the door sections to be moved to their closed position.

I claim:

l. Apparatus of the class described comprising a ire door consistingk of a pair ot relatively movable pivoted sections, a bell crank, links connecting said bell crank to the respective sections, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a piston rod pivotally connected to said piston and readily detachably connected to said bell crank, said piston rod being arranged to be moved to a position at substantially right angles to the axis of said piston when disconnected from said bell crank, means for maintaining said piston rod in said position, means controlling admission of air to said cylinder, and means controlling discharge of air from said cylinder, said last mentioned means permitting rapid discharge of air from said cylinder during the initial period of discharge and slow disprising ya tire door consisting of a pair of i relatively movable pivoted sections, a bell crank, links connecting said bell crank to the respective sections, a cylinder, a piston in said cylinder, a piston rod pivotally connected to said piston and readily detachably connected tosaid bell crank, said piston rod being provided with a lug adapted to engage a portion of said cylinder'to maintain said rod in a substantially horizontal position when it is disconnected from said bell crank, an air inlet port leading into said cylinder below said piston, an air discharge port leading from said cylinder, said discharge port being closed before the piston'reaches the end otl its return stroke, and a restricted air discharge port associated with said inlet port for the purpose described.

3. An apparatus of the class described comprising a lire door .consisting of a pair of relatively movable pivoted sections; a bell crank; a pivot pin for said bell crank; links connecting said bellcrank to the respective sections; servo-motor mechanism connected to said bell crank 'for moving the same; means for controlling said servo-motor mechanism; a handle slidably and rockvinglymounted on said pivot pin adapted to be moved toward and from said bell crank on said pin; means on said bell crank adapted to be engaged by said handle when s moved toward said bell crank, whereby motion of said handle may be transmitted to said bell crank; and a stationary stop adapted to be engaged by said handle when it is moved from said bell crank, whereby s said handle may be held stationary in such position.

In testimony whereof, I aix my signature.

PETER J. WEIRICH. 

